War Zones and the Kingdom of Heaven Bringing a Spiritual Perspective to World Events and Daily Life

I HEARD a news broadcast that said a much-prayed-for cease-fire
in one particular country was not holding at that moment. I
thought I should pray about it. But how? The United Nations had
requested the world's prayers for peace there. I felt sure that
those prayers had brought the warring factions as far as they had
already come toward a settlement. Continued prayer, I was-and
still am-sure, can lead to resolution of conflict there and in
other so-called hot-spots of the world.

In this case, it came to me that there wasn't a kingdom of
heaven and another country; in other words, there wasn't someplace
left outside of God. I began thinking of the many parables, or
stories, that Christ Jesus told to illustrate the nature of the
kingdom of heaven. He taught that the kingdom includes everything
true and real. And that repentance and forgiveness are components
of the kingdom of heaven. But ingratitude, revenge,
self-righteousness, and the like have no place in the universe that
God created.

The Founder of the Christian Science Church wrote in Science and
Health with Key to the Scriptures: "Heaven is not a locality, but a
divine state of Mind in which all the manifestations of Mind are
harmonious and immortal, because sin is not there and man is found
having no righteousness of his own, but in possession of 'the mind
of the Lord,' as the Scripture says" (p. 291). These are the words
of Mary Baker Eddy.

This kingdom of heaven can, and must, eventually be reflected in
all the war zones of the world. No sin or hate can interfere with
the process of peace.

One of Jesus' parables says, "The kingdom of heaven is like unto
a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one
pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought
it" (Matthew 13:45-46). Your prayer and my prayer will help
others, especially those who have glimpsed a peace that is more
than just absence of gunfire. Prayer will enable warring factions
to make the necessary sacrifices to gain peace. …

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